Stripe Makes A Crypto Comeback, Accepts Stablecoins For Online Payments

Stripe is diving back into the world of cryptocurrency, this time focusing on stablecoins for online transactions.

What Happened: The payments processing giant announced the news at their annual conference in San Francisco, with co-founder John Collison highlighting the improvements in the crypto space since Stripe’s initial foray with Bitcoin payments a decade ago.

“There’s been a lot of technical improvements happening in crypto,” Collison said during his presentation. He specifically pointed to faster transaction speeds and lower fees as reasons for Stripe’s renewed interest.

Additionally, Collison emphasized the growing role of stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged to a stable asset like the dollar – in the crypto ecosystem.

“Stablecoins are becoming more stable,” Collison stated, showcasing a crypto payment using Circle‘s USDC/USD stablecoin during his presentation.

This focus on stablecoins aligns with a broader trend within the financial technology industry. PayPal, for instance, launched its own PYUSD stablecoin last year.

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Why It Matters: Stripe’s previous attempt at Bitcoin payments, launched roughly ten years ago, proved unsuccessful. “The experience back then was pretty terrible,” Collison admitted.

A lack of customer demand ultimately led to the service’s termination in 2018.

However, Stripe has remained engaged with the crypto space.

They experimented with facilitating crypto payouts for creators on Twitter and launched a crypto on-ramp service in 2022, allowing businesses to offer customers a way to convert traditional fiat currency into cryptocurrencies.

This renewed focus on crypto comes alongside another announcement from Stripe.

The company revealed that businesses will no longer be required to process payments through Stripe in order to use its other products.

What’s Next: The Benzinga Future of Digital Assets event, scheduled for Nov. 19, will bring together industry leaders, payment processors, and financial experts to discuss the future of crypto payments and the role of stablecoins in this evolving space.

This conference offers a unique opportunity to gain insights into the latest trends and innovations shaping the future of online commerce.

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